Experimental Evolution 2023

Course: "Experimental Evolution: Exploring Evolutionary Forces in Controlled Environments”

Group picture, 2023 Vienna

Schedule: November 27 - December 1, 2023

Sunday: suggested arrival
Monday-Friday:
9:00-12:30 Lectures
14:00-18:30 Practicals
Saturday: suggested departure

Detailed schedule click for large version

The venue for the practical sessions will be the computer room of the Institute of Population Genetics (Institut für Populationsgenetik) at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Vetmeduni), accessible via the 4th floor of the campus building HA. The venue for the lectures is lecture hall D at campus building GA (1st floor).

Link to campus map here

The Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics is now accepting applications for the course "Experimental Evolution: Exploring Evolutionary Forces in Controlled Environments” at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, November 27 - December 1, 2023.

Experimental evolution is extensively used to address questions of evolutionary biology by exposing evolving populations to different environmental conditions. It offers the opportunity to replicate experiments and test for convergent outcomes. With the recent drop in DNA sequencing cost and the advance of sequencing technologies, the combination of experimental evolution with next generation sequencing of pools of individuals (Evolve & Resequence) has become a state-of-the-art method to link phenotypic responses to genetic changes. Although the availability of replicated time series data is one key advantage of E&R, the analysis of such data sets is still in its infancy. This course will introduce the participants to several new approaches for the analysis of genomic time series data covering the latest software tools as well as required statistical and computational skills.

The course is targeted towards researchers interested in experimental evolution combined with NGS and will cover the design of experimental evolution studies as well as the analysis of Pool-Seq time series data.

The course aims to introduce participants to:

State-of-the-art software packages
Modelling of neutral data
Identifying selected regions
Haplotypes reconstruction from time-series data
Estimating selection coefficients
Calling transposable elements in time series data
Inferring selection in transcriptomics data

Morning lectures by internationally renowned faculty will be followed by computer practicals on the analysis of experimental evolution data in the afternoon.

Keynote speakers:

Adam Chippindale (Queens University, CA)

The Evolutionary Theory of Ageing: What we know (and don’t know) from four decades of selection experiments
Sexual Conflict: Arms race or tug-of-war?

Michael Desai (Harvard University, US)

Inferring the structure of genotype-phenotype maps
Binding affinity landscapes for immune-viral coevolution

Elina Immonen (Uppsala University, SE)

Genomic signatures of sex-specific selection
Experimental evolution of sexual dimorphism

Christian Schlötterer (Vetmeduni, AT)

Experimental design of E&R studies
Experimental Evolution in Drosophila

Henrique Teotónio (IBENS, FR)

Introduction to experimental evolution and a few case studies
Adaptation and selection on a recombination modifier

Call for participants: We are no longer accepting applications.

Applicants have already been contacted regarding the outcome of their application.

Participants are expected to arrange their own accommodation.

If you wish to only attend the lectures, you can register here. Lectures are open to everyone, but registration is needed as space is limited!

Link to LinkedIn event here

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at experimentalevolutioncourse_at_gmail.com